John c



V'UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE.

JOHN C. LOVE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO TI-IE LOVE ELECTRICTRACTION COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

coNDu lT-RAlLwAY TROLLEY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of-Letters Patent No. 511,342, dated December26, 1893. Application tiled May 17,1892.l Serial No. 433,366- (Nomodel.)

thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to traveling contact devices such as are carriedby an electric railway car, and move in contact with an electricconductor, for conveying' the current from the conductor to the motor onthe car, and it consists in the matters hereinafter described andpointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating the invention: Figure l is aside View of ay contact device embodying the same. Fig. 2 is a plan viewthereof. Fig. 3 is a detail section on line'S-S of Fig. 1. Fig..4c is adetail plan view of one of the' two contact devices illustrated, showingby dotted lines changed positions thereof.`

As shown inl the saiddrawings, A A indi-y cate two parallel wires orline conductors, C a supporting bar which is attached to the car andwhich carries the contact devices proper. The particular apparatusillustrated is intended for use in connection with an undergroundslotted conduit, through the slot of 4 which the bar C extends, and thecontact devices are attached to the lower end of said bar.

D indicates a block of insulating material attached to the lower end ofthe bar C, and to the opposite sides of which are secured supportingplates E E adapted to sustain the said contact devices, of which, in thedrawings, two are shown, one for each of the conductors A A.

It will of course be understood that in railway systems having only oneconducting wire, as for instance, those in which the return conductor ofthe circuit is formed by the track rail, only one of the contact devicesherein illustrated will be employed. As shown in the drawings, however,two of said contact devices are present, one of which is located ateither side of the .supporting bar C, and inasmuch as these contactdevices are exactly alike, one only will be referred to in the followingdescription, which applies equally to both. Y

The plate E is made of brass, copper or other good ,conductor ofelectricity, and the same is secured to the block D so as to beinsulated from the supporting bar C, the conducting wires c c, which areshown as extending along the edge of said supporting bar, being attachedto said plate E.

Those parts of the contact device which are in immediate contact withand act upon the conductor consists of two shoes or contact pieces B B',which are provided with deep grooves to receive the wire, and providedon their inner surfaces with recesses containing masses or plugs b b ofa lubricating substance capable of conducting electricity, such asgraphite or plumbago, mixed, if desired, with some oil or oleaginouslubricant. The shoes or contact pieces B B are not only grooved asdescribed, but are curved longitudinally so as to give the surface incontact with the wire a convex or rounded form, or, in other words,theworking or contact surface of the contact piece as a whole has theform of a segment of a grooved wheel.

The contact shoes or pieces described are supported from the car orvehicle by means aii'ording freedom of movement in the contact piecesrelatively to the car body whereby said contact pieces may closelyfollow the wire and will be held in contact with the samenotwithstanding lateral or other movement of the car with relation tothe wire, while at the same time enabling the shoes to smoothly andclosely follow the wire in passing around curves. The devices hereinshown for the purpose of so supporting the shoes are made as follows:Projecting laterally from said plate E is a stud c preferably madeintegral therewith, and pivoted upon the stud e is an arm, indicated asawhole by F, the free end of which is adapted to rise and fall in avertical plane by swinging about the said stud e. The said arm Fconsists of three separate pieces or sections F', F2, F3 of which thepart or section wF is engaged directly with the stud c and is adapted toswing in averti- IOO cal plane about said stud. At its outer or free endsaid part F is provided with a cylindric pin f which enters a socket f2in the section F2 and forms a swivel joint between said sections F andF2 so that said section F2 is adapted to swing and rotate about acentral longitudinal axis. The section F2 is shown as held in engagementwith the pin f by means of a screw-stud f3 which passes through atransverse slot f4 in the section F2 and is secured in the said pin; thesaid stud holding the parts from shifting endwise or becoming detached,while at the same time the transverse slot f4 permits a limitedoscillatory movement of the section F2.- Said section F2 is provided atits outer end with a lug f5 through which is inserted a transversebearing pin f6 on which is pivoted the outer section F3, which sectionis provided with a lug f7 apertured for the passage of the said stud f6.The stud f6 is arranged in a vertical plane and forms a transversepivotal axis on which the said outer section F3 is adapted to swing oroscillate laterally. Such oscillatory movement of the free end of thesection F3 is limited by shoulders f8 f2 on the adjacent parts of thesections F2 F2 in the manner shown, Fig. 2. In the outer end section F3is secured a horizontal pivot stud g on which are mounted two oppositelyextending arms G G said arms being provided with overlapping partsengaging with the stud g in the :manner shown. At their outer ends thestuds G G are provided with transverse sockets g g2 in which areinserted stems b b2 attached to the shoes B B said sockets beingarranged in the same vertical plane, so that when the arms G G are swungabout the stud g the sockets will remain in the same plane with thewires A which are engaged by the said shoes B B. The said shoes areshown as held in engagement with the sockets by means of screw-threadsg2 g4 inserted through slots in the sockets g g2 and entering the stemsb b2; the slots in the sockets being elongated transversely so as toallow a limited oscillatory movement of the said shoes or contactpieces. The arm F with which the contact pieces are connected, as abovedescribed, is held upwardly at its free end so as to maintain thecontact pieces in position to engage the wire by means of a coiledspring H connected at one end with the insulating block C and at itsopposite end with said arm F conveniently by means of an eye h securedin the end of the pivot stud j6 of the arm. The opposite end of the saidspring H is shown as extended over a cross-bar D secured to one end ofthe insulating block D in the manner illustrated.

I is a second coiled spring connected with the under side of the arm Fand with the block D to limit the upward movement of the said arm whenthe shoes are free from the wire, and to prevent the end of the arm frombeing thrown backwardlypast or over the pivot c. In the particularconstruction illustrated the spring I is attached at one end to an eyet" secured in the lower end of the pivot stud f, the spring beingattached to the block D by means of a cross-bar D2 attached to the endof the bar in the manner illustrated.

For holding the arms GG in an approximately horizontal position and tomaintain the contact pieces yieldingly in position for engagement withthe wire, a coiled spring J is secured at its opposite ends to the outerends of said arms GG at points abovea horizontal line passing throughthe pivot of said arms; said spring thus arranged serving to maintainthe shoes B B approximately vertical, while allowing freedom of movementin a vertical direction of both arms and the shoes or contact piecescarried thereon.

From the construction described it is obvious that each of the contactpieces is adapted to swing or rotate horizontally on its own verticalaxis to adjust its bearing surface to the wire while at the same timeeach shoe or contact piece is adapted to yield downwardly independentlyof the other by swinging of the arms G G upon their horizontal pivots.It is further obvious that both contact pieces together are adapted toswing laterally on the vertical transverse pivot of the arm F which isformed by the stud f6, thereby allowing the said contact pieces toeasily follow the wire without lateral pressure thereon in passingaround curves, while at the same time enabling the said contact piecesto shift or move bodily sidewise when any lateral movement of thesupporting bar C takes place with reference to the said wire. By reasonof the pivotal joint between the sections F F2 of the arm the contactpieces are adapted to maintain a laterally inclined position so as tobear directly against the wire when the lower part of the arm is movedor shifted laterally from its position beneath the wire.

The particular features of construction described in the arm F and armsG G' are described and claimed in a separate application for patent,Serial No. 433,367, filed on the 17th day of May, 1892 and are not bythemselves herein claimed as part of the present invention which relatesmore particularly to the shoes or contact pieces B B; but which includesin connection with said contact pieces, supporting devices sustainingthe same in such manner that they may bear with a uniform pressureagainst the wire and follow the same smoothly notwithstanding lateralmovement orvibrations of the vehicle, or of the -supporting bar by whichthe contact device is sustained from the vehicle.

An important advantage is obtained by the hollow or grooved contactpiece, curved longitudinally, as shown, for the reason that a contactpiece of this form presents a uniform surface or contact with theconductor notwithstanding changes in the angular position thereof due tothe swinging of the armsGG IIO about their pivotal supports. It isobvious, furthermore, that such changes of the angular position in theshoes will change the point of contact with the wire so thatsuch pointof contact will continually change or shift during the continuousvertical movements or vibrations of the vehicle and supporting bar,thereby distributing the wear upon the shoe lengthwise thereof andpreventing it from coming continually upon one part of the shoe.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination with an electric conductorand vehicle, of a traveling contact device comprising a grooved contactpiece or shoe, and means for supporting the same comprising a main armadapted to swing in a vertical plane, and consisting of two partsconnected by a transversely arranged pivot adapted to allow lateraloscillatory movement in the outer end of the arm, a horizontallyarranged arm pivoted to the outer end of the main arm and adapted toswing in a vertical plane and to which the said shoe is connected by avertical pivot, and springs yieldingly sustaining said main andhorizontal arms, substantially as described.

2. The combination with an electric c'onspring or springs yieldinglysustaining said shoe in contact with the conductor, substantially asdescribed.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I aix mysignature in presence ot' two witnesses.

JOHN C. LOVE.

Witnesses: i C. CLARENCE POOLE G. W. HIGGINS, Jr.

connection of the said shoe therewith, and a v

